Monocle Weekend
Edition: Saturday

This weekend we size up the retro band T-shirts taking over Tokyo, ramble up Greece’s Pindus mountains with the Monocle Concierge, find out why Amsterdam has gone to pot and plenty more. But first, Andrew Tuck puts his beloved fox terrier back on her feet.

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A choice: we could allow the cancer to spread and prepare for a few weeks, at most, of palliative care or we could put Macy, our fox terrier, through a gruelling operation that would give her perhaps another year and leave her with a limp. What to do?

We have faced this final chapter of a dog’s life twice before and I don’t like the decisions that have to be made. Millie, our first dog, an intelligent border collie, also got cancer and had to be put to sleep (letting out an enormous fart on the vet’s dispatching bench as her final statement on the situation). Bruno, the weimaraner, spared us that moment. Frail, he was asleep on our bed, jumped down, had a heart attack and was gone in seconds (it saved on the lethal injection bit but then we had to determine what to do at 03.00 with a dead hound the size of a pony prostrate at our feet).

We talked through Macy’s options – in whispers just in case she got a sniff of what was being debated. We kept coming back to the advice of the surgeon, who was confident that it was worth a go, even if the removal of the tumour from her shoulder would be complicated. So, two weeks ago, we drove out of London, left our dog at a state-of-the-art hospital, headed home and waited.

It was four days before we were able to collect her and she looked broken. They had also needed to remove her spleen, so both the undercarriage and right side of her body had been shaved back to the flesh, while the rest of her fur – unable to be groomed for weeks now – was resplendent. She looked like a piglet wearing a fur bolero jacket but where a string of glinting pearls seemed to hang there were actually giant staples holding her together. It’s quite the look.

To cheer her up, I left the Paralympics running on the TV – well, I thought it might inspire her, stop her feeling sorry for herself. We have also started watching the first season of Colin from Accounts, the Aussie romantic comedy that features a disabled border terrier that gets around on wheels. “Look,” I say, “he’s not complaining.” And, to be fair, she’s not either.

For the first couple of days, she didn’t move and needed food and water to be brought to her bed. She also needed me to carry her gently outside whenever she needed a wee. I feared that we might be left with something more akin to a breathing handbag than a dog but then she started to stand, and then to take a few steps. We have now progressed to three short street walks every day. It still takes a few seconds for her to get her balance, during which time she looks as though she’s auditioning for Riverdance as her little legs dart at speed in unhelpful directions. Then she eases into a rabbit-style manoeuvre, jumping her two front feet forward and then the rear ones. Yesterday, for the first time since the operation, she returned – for a few seconds – to walking like a dog. Step by step.

This is not a permanent fix but last night, after her steak dinner, she rolled onto her back and slept like a dowager duchess who had partaken too heartily of the banquet and I knew that we had made the right choice.

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Are you in London this coming Thursday 19 September? Have a gap in your diary? Well, let’s meet up. We’re hosting a special live recording of The Urbanist at the Natural History Museum (arrival 18.30, show from 19.00, drinks and mingling until 21.00). We’ll be discussing The Urban Nature Project, a drive to develop a new movement with an amazing panel of experts. The evening is being supported by our friends at the Holcim Foundation. To attend, you just have to register. See you there.

Amsterdam has a pot problem (writes Alexis Self). Or, at least, that’s the way the city’s administrators see it. Over the years, many residents of the Dutch capital’s 17th-century inner core have chosen to adorn their windowsills and stoops with potted plants. Most of these, in true Dutch fashion, are well groomed and conscientiously arranged. But central city chief Amélie Strens thinks that some unkempt urban verdure is taking up too much pavement space and inhibiting the movement of mobility-impaired residents and visitors. In response, authorities in the district have launched what the media is calling “operation plant pot” – a move to clear away neglected greenery and instigate a strict quota of two plant pots per residence.

The ensuing debate, currently mired in the weeds, appears to be split fairly evenly between the pro- and anti-potters. Their polarisation strikes at the root of Amsterdam’s present identity crisis. For centuries, the Dutch capital has been a permissive place where artists and progressives have flocked to live alternatively. But as it has become more attractive – and therefore expensive – affluent newcomers, less inclined to tolerate what some consider as the city’s anarchic charms, have begun to bridle against the proclivities of its more unruly denizens. The flora furore mirrors similar debates around overtourism and the red-light district, both of which have led to interventions from on high. In the grand scheme of things, it’s easier to deal with pots than people. But while removing hundreds of plants from its streets will certainly make Amsterdam less seedy, what will it uproot from the city’s spiritual undergrowth?

It’s a phenomenon that provokes the anguished clutching of remaining hair and the gnashing of persisting teeth among certain middle-aged rock fans: the donning of band T-shirts by younger folk who might have, at best, an elementary appreciation of the works of the artist in question (writes Andrew Mueller). Such grumps might be well advised to steer clear of Japan, where they’re especially likely to glimpse youths in Ramones T-shirts who couldn’t name three tracks from Rocket to Russia with a gun to their heads, or kids sporting Nirvana merch who probably never even owned a copy of Bleach, let alone the limited edition blue-vinyl version on Australian label Waterfront.

Harajuku’s vintage-clothes emporiums reportedly do especially brisk business in lurid designs that celebrate venerable headbangers Iron Maiden, AC/DC and Metallica. Also popular is Peter Saville’s stark, white-on-black radio-waves motif that adorned the Joy Division album Unknown Pleasures. Whether they realise it or not, someone who wears, for example, a Rage Against the Machine T-shirt without having bothered to listen to a note of their music understands with complete clarity what a band T-shirt is for. A band T-shirt is not like a poster on your wall: it faces outwards. It’s a declaration to the world that you wish to be perceived as the kind of person who listens to this kind of music. Whether or not you actually do has always been an irrelevant consideration. Who’s going to know? One can only admire the clear thinking involved: strolling Tokyo’s streets endowed with the countercultural cachet of a Grateful Dead fan without having to endure any of their dreadful records.

The Monocle Concierge is our purveyor of top tips and delectable recommendations for your next trip. If you’re planning to go somewhere nice and would like some advice, clickhere. We will answer one question a week.

Dear Concierge,

I am planning a roadtrip in the Greek Epirus region in October but don’t know where to start. Any recommendations?

Greg Charalambos,
Cyprus

Dear Greg,

Who says that Greece is only nice during the summer? October is a perfect time to visit the Pindus mountains in Epirus, where crisp air and autumn hues create a magical backdrop. May we recommend starting from Ioannina, the region’s vibrant capital? Wander the old town, visit the Museum Ali Pasha and enjoy a waterside coffee at Kyra Frosyni, a café with panoramic views of Lake Pamvotida. From Ioannina, head to the Zagori villages, a cluster of stone-built hamlets. Monodendri is a must-see, with its dramatic Vikos Gorge, which is perfect for a hike among the towering cliffs. Afterwards, refuel at Kanela & Garyfallo in Vitsa, where regional dishes such as kontosouvli (skewers of pork) and wild mushroom pie are served with a contemporary twist.

For somewhere more remote, drive to Metsovo, a picturesque mountain town known for its traditional architecture and cheese. It’s a popular ski destination in the winter but it’s probably too early to hit the slopes in October. Keep that in your pocket for a future trip. While you’re there, have a meal at Galaxias, a cosy taverna famed for its metsovone cheese and succulent lamb. Finally, unwind at Grand Forest Metsovo, where modern luxury meets rustic charm, offering stunning views of the surrounding peaks. It’s a serene base for your Epirotic adventure.

Justin Vogt is the executive editor of Foreign Affairs, the bimonthly magazine of the Council on Foreign Relations think-tank.

Have the past few years been a bit of a golden era in terms of interest in reading about foreign policy? Have you noticed a spike in online and print readership?
Absolutely. Crises drive reader engagement, so interest did go up when Russia invaded Ukraine. Unlike in the past, though, it stayed elevated, which is interesting.

Has there been increased input from your contributors too?
We don’t have staff writers. We draw from an expert community of scholars and practitioners. People who had long only published in print in Foreign Affairs started to become more enthusiastic about writing web-only pieces because they realised that, because of the rapid pace of events, it was where they needed to be if they wanted to have an impact. So that was an interesting change for us as a legacy media organisation that has been very much print-centric for a century.

Has it become harder with a bimonthly lead time to ensure that articles in the print magazine aren’t overtaken by events?
I would say that, in some ways, it has actually become easier. You can see from all the churn what is sustainable and what’s really important. From the daily online content, you can see how things change and that informs your decisions about what will still matter in two months.

According to conventional wisdom, there are no votes in foreign policy. But do you think that this year’s US presidential election will be an exception?
I do. I think I know what’s behind door number one: Kamala Harris and probably continuity. But I don’t know exactly what’s behind door number two. Certainly, there’s plenty of evidence from last time that it won’t be smooth sailing but that tends to discount just how unpredictable Donald Trump is and how impulsive and erratic his style of governing is. There’s this narrative that it will be different this time because there won’t be these adults in the room. I’m not totally convinced that this is true because I doubt that it matters so much. What matters is what Trump, at any given moment, decides to do and that’s really hard to predict.

For our full interview with Justin Vogt, tune in to the latest edition of ‘The Stack’ on Monocle Radio.

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For more finely crafted reporting, pick up a copy of Monocle’s latest issue or subscribe today. Have a great Saturday.